Big Kerry Scandal

[wdlove]

This is my first entry here. But I decided that you guys deserved to know among the first to know.

General Wesley spoke with three reporters off record, (speculation that this comes from the Clinton's motive and opportunity Hillary '04 or '08). According to reports that NBC, CBS, NBC, & AP are investigating. John Kerry has been having an inappropriate relationship with a 22 year old junior AP reporter. Described as a pretty blonde with long legs. Kerry reportedly sent the young lady to Europe already.

http://www.drudgereport.com/mattjk1.htm

[mactastic]

Yeah I saw this earlier today. Newsmax, Drudge, WorldNetDaily all were reporting this. We'll see how true it is. This kind of thing is why Edwards is hanging in despite consistently losing primaries. God I'm gonna be pissed if the Dems nominate another candidate who can't keep it in his pants....

[DavisBAnimal]

Originally posted by mactastic
Yeah I saw this earlier today. Newsmax, Drudge, WorldNetDaily all were reporting this. We'll see how true it is. This kind of thing is why Edwards is hanging in despite consistently losing primaries. God I'm gonna be pissed if the Dems nominate another candidate who can't keep it in his pants....

Yeah I'm with you there. I thought the Dems were clear with Kerry just cause he's so damn ugly. :(

Guess that's not a good enough indicator! Oh well, we'll see what turns up.

Davis

[Dont Hurt Me]

Pull out a 20 dollar bill and who's picture is on it? its John Kerry. take a look. Republicans are throwing slime because a president took us to war over.......dreams of wmds so lets go get em boys. They are scrapping every ditch for more mud. Instead of talking issues and real problems lets just throw mud. both parties stink and this is what is wrong with our system. Blame them both.

[zimv20]

true or not, if these brings kerry down, then we can all rejoice in the fact that the idiot populace has its priorities in the right place. they deserve who they elect.

...or make it close enough to be elected for them...

[Sayhey]

This is the same Drudge report that had Clinton the father of an illegitimate child. This is one of the most scurrilous and unreliable sites on the internet - and that is saying a lot. It sounds like the same scum-sucking, bottom-dwelling political operatives of the right are looking for whatever they can to besmirch their opponent. Given that Clark in supposed to endorse Kerry, I wouldn't put much credence in the report.

[zimv20]

it occurs to me that the timing of the report is strangely coincidental w/ the fuss over the national guard thing

though lately, it's hard to find a time when there isn't some sort of WH controversy...

[Frohickey]

There is a National Enquirer story along the same lines as reported by Drudge. I think its Clark that sowed the seeds of this story. Maybe, or maybe not, because of Clinton. She does work with Kerry in the Senate.

Doubt its part of the machinations of the GOP. Kerry would be a very nice match-up for the Bush since he's got a voting-record trail that the campaign could focus on, lots of nuggets to mine there. ;)

I think that Kerry is in the forefront because of his win in the first few primaries, which Dean did not contest Kerry on. Dean should have contested/campaigned in those first few state primaries, and the roles could be reversed. Kind of like the avalanche phenomenon.

[Desertrat]

Ugly doesn't matter. Political power is one of the best aphrodisiacs there is. So is money.

Hey, zimv20, ain't you part of us idiot populaces? Or are you up in some rarified atmosphere above us all?

:D, 'Rat

[numediaman]

My, my. Everyone here must be in their twenties. So is Drudge, isn't he?

In 1992, the Bush (daddy Bush) administration put out a rumor that candidate Clinton (remember him?) was having an affair with a 20-something A.P. reporter. Sound familiar?

Turned out, of course, that there was only one woman A.P. reporter covering the campaign -- she was blond, with long legs . . . you get the picture. Only problem was that she had a head as good as her legs, and no one in the press core believed a word of it. The story died there.

I think this story has less legs than the supposed A.P. blond bombshell.

By the way, Clark is set to endorse Kerry tomorrow -- so much for Clark ratting out Kerry, huh? Sounds like Karl Rove has been busy again.

[wwworry]

but isn't Clark about to endorse Kerry?

CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/02/12/elec04.prez.main/

It's funny how it took 4 years for the press to finally look into Bush AWOL, 3 months to look into the Plame outing, 5 months to look into the Niger Uranium state of the Union lie, almost completely ignoring the drunk driving felony misdemenor.

and 2 days for this. It sounds like a 2 year and $70 million blue dress all over again.

and they talk about gutter politics

anyway, I like Edwards better.

[zimv20]

Originally posted by Desertrat

Hey, zimv20, ain't you part of us idiot populaces? Or are you up in some rarified atmosphere above us all?


speak up! it's noisy up here... ;-)

by the idiot populace, i'm talking about those who choose to be uninformed. of course, this comes in a giant grey scale. i'm less interested in people voting the way i would like, i'm more interested in people knowing their current events, deciding what's truly important in this country, and voting with their conscious.

i know a few too many women who voted for bush because he was 'cute'.

[Desertrat]

Hey, sayhey, wasn't Drudge correct about Monica? (Lord, how old is she, now? Seems like only yesterday she was crawling around on hands and knees!)

I note that Drudge says, "A close friend of the woman first approached a reporter late last year claiming fantastic
stories..." which says the lady in question has poor judgement about friends.

Further, Drudge says, "...General Wesley Clark, who, in an off-the-record conversation with a dozen reporters earlier
this week, plainly stated: "Kerry will implode over an intern issue."" Does this make Clark part of the scumsucking right? Or is he part of the scumsucking left? :D Inquiring minds want to know.

I'd have to say this ain't a Republican "Get Kerry!" thing, although they'll be laughing their tails off...

Since other news agencies are investigating, why the animus toward Drudge?

Doesn't the public have a right to know? :D

'Rat

[wwworry]

all the politicos do it, nothing new under the sun, seems like an hill 'o dagnabits etc.

'?

(sound familiar?)

[Stinkysteve]

At least Kerry did not have the intern killed!

[Desertrat]

wwworry, when it comes to human behavior, there's little under this old sun that's new. If you can imagine it, somebody's done it.

As far as horny president types, you can go back through FDR, Ike, JFK, (allegedly) LBJ, Clinton...Those are the fairly easy ones. :)

I gotta admit I'd be happier if the media in general--and the public--weren't so pushily curious about somebody's private peccadillos. While I tend to disapprove of cheaters, I don't feel the need to put forth serious effort to shine the glare of publicity on somebody's discreet misdeeds.

And I'd just as soon wait until some "true facts" come out, instead of Wesley Clark's allegations and those of some "friend" of the gal in question...

How's Clark gonna endorse? "I don't care if he does cheat on his old lady, I'm gonna vote for him!"? Weird.

Al Sharpton's lookin' better, day by day. :D

'Rat

[Frohickey]

Originally posted by wwworry
It's funny how it took 4 years for the press to finally look into Bush AWOL, 3 months to look into the Plame outing, 5 months to look into the Niger Uranium state of the Union lie, almost completely ignoring the drunk driving felony misdemenor.


I don't think it took 4 years for the press to look into the Bush AWOL. It took Michael Moore 4 years to mention the same old Bush-AWOL story that had already been proven false 4 years ago by the press, but wasn't as widely published.

So, the Bush-AWOL story is a rehash of the same old quadriplegic story 4 years ago. Its a story again, because the Democrats are running a Vietnam vet with medals and a 4 star General.

[IJ Reilly]

This is what it's all about:

Republicans, already preparing for the general election race, launched a pre-emptive strike on Kerry, with Republican Party chief Ed Gillespie accusing him of planning "the dirtiest campaign in modern American politics."

He said Kerry supporters planned to spread rumors about Bush in Internet chat rooms, and he questioned donations by a Kerry supporter, former New Jersey Sen. Robert Torricelli, to a group that ran attack ads against Howard Dean (news - web sites) and donations from Kerry's wife to a group that endorsed him.

Citing a news report quoting an unidentified Democrat as saying "everything" was on the table for the November campaign, Gillespie told a Republican dinner in Reno, Nevada, that Kerry did not want to debate issues with Bush.

"Everything means making slanderous charges against the president of the United States, funneling money to shadow organizations, engaging in voter suppression tactics, and spreading lies on the Internet," Gillespie, who has complained about Democratic efforts to bring up Bush's National Guard records, said in prepared remarks.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=615&e=4&u=/nm/20040212/pl_nm/campaign_dc

[Sayhey]

Originally posted by Desertrat
Hey, sayhey, wasn't Drudge correct about Monica? (Lord, how old is she, now? Seems like only yesterday she was crawling around on hands and knees!)

I note that Drudge says, "A close friend of the woman first approached a reporter late last year claiming fantastic
stories..." which says the lady in question has poor judgement about friends.

Further, Drudge says, "...General Wesley Clark, who, in an off-the-record conversation with a dozen reporters earlier
this week, plainly stated: "Kerry will implode over an intern issue."" Does this make Clark part of the scumsucking right? Or is he part of the scumsucking left? :D Inquiring minds want to know.

I'd have to say this ain't a Republican "Get Kerry!" thing, although they'll be laughing their tails off...

Since other news agencies are investigating, why the animus toward Drudge?

Doesn't the public have a right to know? :D

'Rat

'Rat

I'd be more interested in the story if there were actual names to the reporters that supposedly overheard this statement by Clark. Drudge prints anything that he hears without an ounce of journalistic integrity. Unfortunately, it all sees the light of day regardless if there is anything to a story. If Clark is spreading stories he has no corroboration for then he is being stupid. As far as I can tell there is nothing to suggest, other than Drudge's poison pen, that he said any such thing. Why the animus toward Drudge? He's got an agenda against liberals, but passes himself off as an objective source. In fact he hasn't a clue what it means to be a journalist.

[pseudobrit]

Drudge is the MOSR of political rumours. He's squandered any credibility he gained from the one story he really did break.

[zimv20]

Originally posted by Frohickey
It took Michael Moore 4 years to mention the same old Bush-AWOL story that had already been proven false 4 years ago by the press, but wasn't as widely published.


huh? you can prove bush showed up for all his guard duty?

[Awimoway]

Drudge is a right-wing gossip-monger, but a lot of his reports have a kernel of truth, no matter how unwelcome they often are.

Sigh. I've always felt that Kerry was a lousy, unappealing candidate. That the majority of my fellow Democrats chose him because he's the most presidential means that, when we get a closer look, he will prove to be the most boring and the least trustworthy. Now it seems that he's emulating some other presidents in another way...

I don't think Democrats will care all that much. Conservative Republicans will have a heyday with it, but they weren't going to vote for him anyway. The big question is which way the swing voters will go.

And it was certainly very clever of the woman in question to flee the country, preventing any kind of legal hijinks by Republicans to force her to tell-all. (Don't think it couldn't happen? I bet there's some sort of "Conduct Unbecoming a United States Senator" rule.) From what I understand, a lot of news agencies have been pursuing this story for months, but they can't get any corroborated facts worth printing.

[Desertrat]

Hey, awimoway, are you a Pete Seeger fan?

"Fled the country"? She must have a good bit of integrity, since the "Enquirer" would probably pay a ton of money for her story. :)

"Conduct Unbecoming..."? If there were, at the peccadillo level, I bet half those clowns would be sent home...

Politicians are a funny breed of cat. Molly Ivins commented, during her investigative reporter days that the folks in the Texas Lege were a touchy-feely crowd. They couldn't just stand there and talk to you. Shoulder and back patting. A handshake with the other hand stroking your forearm. Like a constant need for the reasurance from the touching...

You take the wealth typical of a national politician, coupled with his political power, and there's a lot of long-stemmed American Beauties who never look at how pretty the guy is. Heck, Kissinger was noted for his hijinks. And Wilbur Mills' face would have scared a freight train down a dirt road on a rainy night.

'Rat

[DavisBAnimal]

Originally posted by Frohickey
I don't think it took 4 years for the press to look into the Bush AWOL. It took Michael Moore 4 years to mention the same old Bush-AWOL story that had already been proven false 4 years ago by the press, but wasn't as widely published.

So, the Bush-AWOL story is a rehash of the same old quadriplegic story 4 years ago. Its a story again, because the Democrats are running a Vietnam vet with medals and a 4 star General.

I've actually followed Moore and his columns pretty regularly, and I can tell you he's been using the "Deserter" line (which even he will admit is a bit exaggerated) for the past 4 years. There are a number of columns since the Globe article in which he discusses the article specifically, as part of his case against the Bush presidency. It just took him saying it at a mainstream political rally before the press took notice again of the issue.

Davis

[Taft]

Originally posted by Desertrat
Hey, sayhey, wasn't Drudge correct about Monica? (Lord, how old is she, now? Seems like only yesterday she was crawling around on hands and knees!)

I note that Drudge says, "A close friend of the woman first approached a reporter late last year claiming fantastic
stories..." which says the lady in question has poor judgement about friends.

Further, Drudge says, "...General Wesley Clark, who, in an off-the-record conversation with a dozen reporters earlier
this week, plainly stated: "Kerry will implode over an intern issue."" Does this make Clark part of the scumsucking right? Or is he part of the scumsucking left? :D Inquiring minds want to know.

I'd have to say this ain't a Republican "Get Kerry!" thing, although they'll be laughing their tails off...

Since other news agencies are investigating, why the animus toward Drudge?

Doesn't the public have a right to know? :D

'Rat

Color me VERY dissappointed 'rat. How can you buy into this crap?

Drudge was correct about Monica, you are right. But he has been wrong more times than I can count. If you print EVERY rumor you hear, you are bound to be right at some point, but you'll be wrong many more times in the process.

And you are right that the major media is investigating, but not a single one has printed it yet. Why? No friggin' evidence.

According to Joe Conason: (http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2004/02/13/drudge/index.html)

A source close to Lehane [an ex-Kerry campaign staffer] vehemently denied to me that Lehane had peddled any rumors about Kerry -- and turned attention back toward the White House as Drudge's likely source. "My assessment is that this is not merely a serendipitous event," he said.

The Drudge item blaming Lehane quoted Craig Crawford, a former Democratic operative who now works as a consultant and columnist for MSNBC. Within 10 minutes after Drudge posted the Kerry intern item, Crawford sent a memo to his superiors that said the story was "something Chris Lehane (clark press secy) has shopped around for a long time." According to Crawford, someone at MSNBC promptly leaked his memo to Drudge. But when Lehane called Crawford with a loudly indignant denial, the MSNBC columnist quickly issued a public retraction. He said:

"The comments attributed to me are from a private email to television news associates based on conversations with Democratic campaign operatives. I did not consider any of it confirmed enough to report or publish. I can only verify that Chris Lehane's rivals in other Democratic campaigns made these claims and I have found no independent source to confirm it. Which is why we did not go with the story. But then someone sent my email to others, which is the only reason it got into the public domain." In other words, there is no proof that Lehane circulated the rumor, let alone that the rumor has any basis in reality.

This sounds like a rumor that people have been trying to peddle for some time. That doesn't say anything about its veracity, but the fact that major media has heard this before and not reported on it says something about the quality of the sources.

Finally, why the heck should this matter at all? This goes straight back to Clinton's scandal. Sure, he's porking interns in the oval office. This country has been turning a blind eye to such behavior for years. Now, Republicans seem to think they can destroy Democratic candidates political careers by bringing them to light. Well, they better check all the skeletons in their closets as well.

The most disturbing thing to me is that the Republicans during the Clinton scandal thought that his behavior somehow justified removing him from office. For many, it wasn't about perjury, it was about the affair. Well, folks, an affair is not illegal. And I don't see any reason that make a person unfit for office. It might speak to his personal character, but it would be an error to think that most of the people in congress and our past presidents have been free of this character flaw.

Taft

[pdrayton]

I don't like Kerry, but I also don't like being diverted from important issues by an unconfirmed rumor.

Just ignore it.

[zimv20]

kerry denies the allegations...

link (http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040213-113151-1455r.htm)


WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., front-runner for the U.S. Democratic presidential nomination, Friday denied he engaged in an extra-marital affair.

"Well, there is nothing to report," Kerry told the talk radio show Imus in the Morning. "So there is nothing to talk about. I'm not worried about it. No."

The story, widely covered by U.S. and British media Friday, was based on a report on the Internet tabloid site DrudgeReport.com, run by Matt Drudge. Drudge's report alleged Kerry had been seeing a former Associated Press employee who has left the country at his behest.

Kerry is married to ketchup heiress Theresa Heinz.

Drudge also said retired Gen. Wesley Clark, who dropped out of the race Wednesday after poor results in the previous night's primaries, told reporters earlier this week, "Kerry will implode over an intern issue."

A spokesman for Clark, however, told UPI Drudge's reporting of his comments was inaccurate. Clark was expected to endorse Kerry later Friday in Wisconsin.

Also Friday the Chicago Sun-Times reported former Vice President Al Gore knew about the allegations, which was why he endorsed former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean instead of Kerry.

[3rdpath]

well clark has officially endorsed kerry...something he wouldn't do if he knew the rumors were true. certainly it nullifies his "off the record" remarks about kerry's impending implosion and the reasons thereof...

drudge...the name says it all.;)

[IJ Reilly]

Originally posted by 3rdpath
drudge...the name says it all.;)

As in, "rhymes with sludge?"

[2jaded2care]

No offense, but making fun of people's names is middle-school behavior. Surely we can express ourselves without insulting an entire family name.

No, my name's not "Drudge", but I remember the "Dyker"s, "Bowser"s and "Gurley"s. Maybe Mr. Drudge deserves to be called names, but I'm sure many Drudge families think it's a fine name.

[IJ Reilly]

Harumph. I would not even have thought of this rhyme if it were not for the fact that he makes his living pumping raw sewage.

[Awimoway]

I think maybe you're thinking of "dredge"

[IJ Reilly]

Nope, sludge is the word: "the precipitate produced by sewage treatment."

[Desertrat]

Taft, SFAIK, Kerry has a clean history as to his behavior.

As far as the Clinton thing, it wasn't the affaire Lewinsky that had a lot of folks upset; it was the totality of baggage he had dragged along with him. His lies to the Draft Board about his
Rhodes Scholarship, insofar as a starting point. The budget problems in Arkansas. The "Bimbo Brigade" deal during the campaign. The "Worst economy in 30 years!"
BS during the campaign. His disbarment. And that's just the easy stuff. If he'd just said about the Monica deal, "I have no comment, and will not comment," he'd have skated okay.

Even conservatives can tolerate affairs; it's the lying or coming from a holier-than-thou position that sticks in folks' craws.

'Rat

[3rdpath]

Drudge (druj) n. A person who does dull or menial work.

[Awimoway]

Dredge (drej) v. To scoop up mud, gravel, or obstructions from the bottom of rivers

[Desertrat]

I guess I don't visit the Drudge website as often as y'all do. Maybe twice since I got out of the hospital December 19th, until all this flap blew up. The thing is, I don't see much there that's any different from most other newspapers, off- or online.

Same sort of thing for El Rushbo. I listen to him every month or two when on the highway, 'cause he's more entertaining than the Top 40 of whatever music. But what I hear him say, vs. what other people say he said, seem to be two different things.

Damfino. I defer to the regular readers and listeners.

:D, 'Rat

[mactastic]

Originally posted by Desertrat
Even conservatives can tolerate affairs; it's the lying or coming from a holier-than-thou position that sticks in folks' craws.

'Rat

So is that why Dubya support is slipping in the polls these days??:p

Reagan lied about much more important things and he's a god to the right. Heck he's a god to Dubya.

[IJ Reilly]

Originally posted by Desertrat
I guess I don't visit the Drudge website as often as y'all do. Maybe twice since I got out of the hospital December 19th, until all this flap blew up. The thing is, I don't see much there that's any different from most other newspapers, off- or online.

Really? I don't read the Drudge Report at all, and haven't heard this story reported on any mainstream media outlet. Not one. As far as I can tell, you'd need to read Drudge to have even heard of it (or have somebody mention it in a public forum like this one).

[pdrayton]

Originally posted by IJ Reilly
Really? I don't read the Drudge Report at all, and haven't heard this story reported on any mainstream media outlet. Not one. As far as I can tell, you'd need to read Drudge to have even heard of it (or have somebody mention it in a public forum like this one).
Main stream media in Britain (and not tabloids!) are providing details and names, but still nothing confirmed.

As the British press don't have "confirmation" I'm not going to link to any of them.

[Sayhey]

Here is a statement by the woman and her family. It is instructive that she is in Kenya to visit with her fiancé's family. At least the part of the rumor that Kerry secreted her out of the country is false.

A statement released Monday by Alexandra Polier, who has been the subject of rumors linking her to Sen. John Kerry:

``For the last several days I have seen Internet and tabloid rumors relating to me and Senator John Kerry. Because these stories were false, I assumed the media would ignore them. It seems that efforts to peddle these lies continue, so I feel compelled to address them. I have never had a relationship with Senator Kerry, and the rumors in the press are completely false. Whoever is spreading these rumors and allegations does not know me, but should know the pain they have caused me and my family. I am in Kenya with my fiance visiting his family, and we ask that the press respect our privacy and leave all of us alone.''

A statement by Terry and Donna Polier, the parents of Alexandra Polier:

``We have spoken to our daughter and the allegations that have been made regarding her are completely false and unsubstantiated. We love and support her 100 percent and these unfounded rumors are hurtful to our entire family. We appreciate the way Senator Kerry has handled the situation, and intend on voting for him for president of the United States.''

02/16/04 13:25 link (http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=NW_1-L1&oldflok=FF-APO-1131&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040216%2F1326443754.htm&sc=1131)